Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

The pre-season rankings will probably reflect the end of season rankings from last year. It is just a starting point and the 1st poll isn't very accurate outside the top 30. :help: Plus many international players don't make their debuts until the Spring or coaches don't like to display their team's full strength in the fall tourneys making it hard to gauge how good teams really are. However like the BCS in football the higher ranking you have to start the season with is an advantage in that the burden is on the teams under you to try and take your ranking away. The Team Indoors should start to shake up the rankings a bit.

When the rankings come out making a case for who's stock should rise or fall is where the predictions will come in. :lol:

fantic

Dec 29th, 2009 11:59 PM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

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Well, we all know the results, so it might be obvious..
I'm just a fan, but for fun on individual ranking;

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

Who will be the sleepers from the top 35 teams from last May's final ranking? I see Texas, Michigan, Illinois being very good teams this year that should move up from last year. How they finished in May: Michigan #18, Texas #32, Illinois #33. The Big Ten should be a lot better this year especially at the top of the conference. I also think Florida looks to have the best team in the country based on the new players they brought in. A team that might fall from a year ago is Notre Dame. They only played 3 players most of the fall season so I assume they're dealing with a lot of injuries on that team.

fantic

Dec 31st, 2009 03:40 PM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

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NU also had losses. #2 Rose, #5 Ghazal, #6 Robison..wonder if Turvy is any good..

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

I'm surprised that Georgia Tech and Notre Dame weren't able to keep the momentum they had a few years back. They've struggled (relatively) with recruiting the last couple of years, which is odd considering the stellar years they had two years ago. Of course GT was severely hurt when Marino turned pro.

From a recruiting stand point of view its interesting to determine what the lag period is between NCAA success and when schools reap those rewards, especially for "second tier" recruiting schools. I define second tier schools as the great tennis schools that are less popular (California, Northwestern, North Carolina, Virginia, etc.) than perennial first choices (Stanford, USC, UCLA, Florida, etc.).

Based on interest in California, it looks like it takes 2-3 years after the success for it to register with new recruits.

You have to give a lot of credit to Michigan and Illinois who seem to making the most of their recent success and (possibly) have changed their recruiting strategy to gain better talent. It always puzzles me why North Carolina and Virginia can't get a constant flow of top talent.

fantic

Dec 31st, 2009 09:35 PM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Tennisace
(Post 16998495)

I'm surprised that Georgia Tech and Notre Dame weren't able to keep the momentum they had a few years back. They've struggled (relatively) with recruiting the last couple of years, which is odd considering the stellar years they had two years ago. Of course GT was severely hurt when Marino turned pro.

From a recruiting stand point of view its interesting to determine what the lag period is between NCAA success and when schools reap those rewards, especially for "second tier" recruiting schools. I define second tier schools as the great tennis schools that are less popular (California, Northwestern, North Carolina, Virginia, etc.) than perennial first choices (Stanford, USC, UCLA, Florida, etc.).

Based on interest in California, it looks like it takes 2-3 years after the success for it to register with new recruits.

You have to give a lot of credit to Michigan and Illinois who seem to making the most of their recent success and (possibly) have changed their recruiting strategy to gain better talent. It always puzzles me why North Carolina and Virginia can't get a constant flow of top talent.

I don't know ANYTHING about recruiting, but still, GT and ND got Falconi and Frilling, respectively :D
GT is continually producing stellar players like Miller, McDowell, Falconi..eh..ND getting Sanders is not good enough? :D I'm not rebutting, just saying what L~ITTLE info I have :lol:

And everybody's mentioning it and I've agreed before too, yes, Illinois & Michigan seems to have a bright future. Big 10 surely would be one of the most interesting regions in for a couple of years..

Tennisace

Dec 31st, 2009 10:37 PM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

Quote:

Originally Posted by fantic
(Post 16999107)

I don't know ANYTHING about recruiting, but still, GT and ND got Falconi and Frilling, respectively :D
GT is continually producing stellar players like Miller, McDowell, Falconi..eh..ND getting Sanders is not good enough? :D I'm not rebutting, just saying what L~ITTLE info I have :lol:

And everybody's mentioning it and I've agreed before too, yes, Illinois & Michigan seems to have a bright future. Big 10 surely would be one of the most interesting regions in for a couple of years..

I will agree that both teams have top talent at the top of their line-up but the middle and bottom are quite weak (which should have been stronger due to attraction of better recruits via their NCAA success). Simply, schools that do well at NCAAs should be able to appeal to more recruits, thus strengthening the middle and bottom of the line up.

As we have seen in the past, NCAA tennis is no longer about having a strong top half of the line-up but perhaps more than ever No. 4-6 is even more important. All the top schools have virtually undefeated No. 4-6.

It also doesn't help that GT lost Johansson and Hickey (and Flower) all to transfers.

fantic

Jan 1st, 2010 12:28 AM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Tennisace
(Post 16999264)

I will agree that both teams have top talent at the top of their line-up but the middle and bottom are quite weak (which should have been stronger due to attraction of better recruits via their NCAA success). Simply, schools that do well at NCAAs should be able to appeal to more recruits, thus strengthening the middle and bottom of the line up.

As we have seen in the past, NCAA tennis is no longer about having a strong top half of the line-up but perhaps more than ever No. 4-6 is even more important. All the top schools have virtually undefeated No. 4-6.

It also doesn't help that GT lost Johansson and Hickey (and Flower) all to transfers.

You're absolutely right, in winning the team tourney, having one or two elite players don't guarantee anything. You need DEPTH. After all, how did UCLA & Duke win. Clemson last year, they might've had the best one two punch in the nation in Mijacika & Bek, but they still lost.

And I 'think' that Baylor and ND's success last season was also due to their depth. Were the rankings of Ormond, Broosova, Tefft, Frilling high? nope. But they had depth, BU's no. 2~5 squad were REALLY solid, and ND had an excellent doubles program as well. (So I think doubles is...crucial)

And yes, wonder why GT is losing so many players..anyway, Happy New year, everyone. :wavey:

gouci

Jan 4th, 2010 10:30 PM

Potentially new conference champions

I can see the following conferences potentially having new champions for the 2009-10 season.

If the 1st rankings are really accurate than the potentially new conference champs should have about the same or better ranking than the champs from last year. But I suspect the better ranking will only happen maybe for Florida over Georgia.

2nd_serve

Jan 5th, 2010 08:38 PM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published

Women’s National Team Rankings
Administered by the ITA
NCAA Division I Tennis
January 5, 2010

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

12 first place votes for Florida but only ranked 8th? Interesting. I definitely think on paper they are the team to beat this year. Women's tennis must be pretty deep if GaTech and Stanford are that far down, too.

2nd_serve

Jan 5th, 2010 11:15 PM

Who are the other players on #1 ranked Duke?

The Duke webpage roster shows only five players, Is there a certain date by which they need to announce their full roster?

Tennisace

Jan 6th, 2010 12:29 AM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

These rankings and pre-season are really not an accurate reflection of what the final rankings will be. Rankings will fluctuate greatly between now and the next set of rankings, and become more accurate as the season goes along.

fantic

Jan 6th, 2010 05:14 AM

Re: ITA tennis rankings published next week, what do the TF experts say

6 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by fantic
(Post 16991422)

Well, we all know the results, so it might be obvious..
I'm just a fan, but for fun on individual ranking;